Two hands are helpful when putting on a bra

As if things aren't stressful enough right now, I cut my hand yesterday helping Courtney with her science project. A reasonable quick trip to the E.R. and my fingers still work and are safely secured with a total of 15 stitches. Thank God it was my left hand.

I am trying to stay away from the prescription the doctor gave me and just survive with the ibuprofen but it is still really uncomfortable. Courtney was trooper and helped me by cleaning up the blood and following my directions. It helps that I was really calm and reassured her that i was okay and focused her on other tasks. Matt rushed home and took me to the hospital. He knows I'm not a wimp but I think he was surprised to see the seriousness of the cuts once I opened my hand at the hospital (I was clenching a paper towel for 1 1/2 hours and refused to open it until I was seen by someone at the hospital).

So, everything is a little more challenging now but it is forcing me to let Matt and the kids help me (which is good for all of us). I refuse to buy pies for Thanksgiving but I will need to shortcut some steps and the kids are going to help so they can brag to the family on Thursday. haha.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

SO STRESSED

What happened to those lazy days of work and home with the animals? Boy has life changed dramatically! I love my husband and kids but I would also love to be able to freeze time once in awhile, unfreeze my husband and then we can spend some quiet time together without feeling like we are falling behind in something...because time is FROZEN! Haha.

But, I really do feel that we are working our tails off for something. I feel that in the next few years something will change in a positive way. Something is going to happen for Matt in his career because he is an amazingly skilled person and awesome employee no matter where he works. The kids are going to do better and better as we keep providing them with a stable home and teach them how to be genuine and responsible. I'm going to work...I don't know where or in what exactly. This is where I get a little hazy. I will be in education and I hope to be full-time but I really don't know what, if anything, will change. It is a little frustrating when you can kind of see what the future may hold for other people but not for yourself. But, I think there is a reason for this. If I knew what was going to happen in my future, would I work as hard to get there? Would I learn as much along the way? There is a reason why we are on our paths and that is to learn from our experiences and work for what we want.

I do know some things in life. I love my husband. I love my kids. I love my animals. I love my family. I have a good head on my shoulders and and good brain in my head. I need to take care of myself. That is the hard one.

Are you looking for construction work?

Just so everyone knows, my husband is available for projects. He is getting started this Friday, 10/3/09, on a kitchen remodel for a family friend. They were quoted over 7k by Home Depot for installation of the cabinets (they are keeping the kitchen footprint very similar). Of course, this had been knocked up from the $4500 quoted by their contractor that went out to the home (which Home Depot mistakenly showed them). Matt is doing all the work for $3500 (and he is saving them more money because he is completing some of the things that they would have to contract out). This includes demolition, sheetrocking, wiring, cabinet and appliance installation, and probably a bunch of other things that I am not thinking of.

We did everything in our kitchen ourselves, except the counter tops. Look below for pictures.

If you want fantastic work done for a great price, let me know. Small projects or large project, we can do it. An added bonus is that you get me with him as his official helper (yes, I do know what I'm doing). :)

Feel free to circulate our info.

The air is thick

With filth!

The air is unhealthy for sensitive groups today and the pollen levels are at 9. When I rode my scoot scoot home today, I couldn't see the hills/mountains. When it is nice outside, it looks like they are only a few minutes away. My daughter's eyes are burning and one of my coworkers had a little bit of a bloody nose this morning and was sneezing and coughing. Allergies are bad when you cough. (My opinion)

I love my home and my job and we are doing pretty good here in the armpit of Cali BUT, the day will come when we seek out cleaner air and some kind of breeze. That day will be happy. When I can look toward the horizon and see something other than a brown sludge (it almost looks like you can reach out to wipe at it and come away with ca-ca on your fingers) and I am not living in a city full of sickness due to asthma and other stuff caused by our air.

Yes, I know that pollution pretty much everywhere is getting worse but armits (whether they be literal or figurative) tend to accumulate the nasties unless they are washed out regularly. Fresno does not get regular washings.

This title is from the San Fransico Chronicle on May 1, 2007

4 smoggiest cities located in California
L.A., Bakersfield, Visalia area, Fresno
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer


On a side note, my daughter is in her room belting out Taylor Swift songs. Fortunately, she has come to the realization that Taylor Swift is a horrible singer BUT she still likes her songs. So, she closes her door and belts them at the top of her lungs. She likes to sing so I let her make her lungs sore.

KITCHEN DONE!?

So I "finished" the kitchen this weekend while Matt was off in the wilderness looking to befriend Bambi and bring home a new pet...haha.

I say "finished" because there is a good chance that something else needs to be done that Matt will remind me of later. Oh, some of the shelves by the window need to be painted and some trim painting needs to be done.


Anyway, I changed the pendant lights (so much nicer and fit the feel of the kitchen) and I repainted the kitchen a creamy buttercup color (which is what I thought I was doing the first time but it really was a cross between Big Bird and lemon...not good), and I did the "backsplash". All the paint and materials for the backsplash and walls was less than $20! You ask, "How the heck is that possible?!" Well, my friends, it is easy when you are thrifty and creative. *hint...the backsplash is FAKE!


I was walking around Walmart because I was lonely with my hubby gone and thought that I would look in the paint section to spark up some ideas for the kitchen walls (I was going to mix some paint at home and alter the nasty yellow to a subtler hue). Well, it was like the heavens opened and shined down on the gallon of Dutch Boy, Interior, Satin wall paint that was 50% off. It was mixed to perfection (for me, apparently not for the person that initially requested it) and on the discounted, premixed rack. So that was my wall color...then I went on the hunt for a rectangular sponge. For less than $2, i got a replacement sponge head for one of those crappy floor mops. PERFECT FOR ME! And that little plastic part on one side of the sponge that has the scrubby pad on it was a perfect handle. I'm telling you, the planets were all aligned.


So, I took home my booty (as in pirate's booty...not my butt) and got my booty (as in butt...not pirate's booty) to work. Here is the result!

On the island is the one persimmon I was able to salvage after two seasons here. I don't think it is ripe but the squirrels got the other ones.

It's so pretty and clean

Look at the Maxie Boo playing Peek-a-Boo. He wants some beans cookin on the counter.

It almost feels like it has a French flava

NEW KITCHEN! almost done

So I forgot to put some pictures of our new (almost done) kitchen on here. Hopefully they do it justice. Matt was working on the custom built cabinet nooks/shelves on either side of the window and the crown moulding today. We are SO close to being done but done enough that I can hardly remember how crappy it was when we were in the demo and reconstruction phase. The two beginning pictures are taken after we had already done some changes. The white cabinets were built by Matt and we took down the hanging cabinets that were above the penisula.

Here is a list of some of the things we did.

• pulled out cabinets
• impact drilled and smashed nasty tile countertops
• cut half the wall off and finished it
• built a new partial wall to the side of the fridge
• replaced insulation and sheetrock in the walls
• tore out nasty ceiling sofit
• sheetrocked nice new flat ceiling
• scraped popcorn/acoustic ceiling and retextured
• ripped up linoleum in kitchen, carpet in dining area and tile in entry
• put down cool new linoleum like wood look flooring (so easy and so nice...after it airs out for a few days...not a green product)
• finished edges of carpet
• moved appliances around
• installed new cabinets and created island
• corian countertops installed (the only thing we didn't do ourselves)
• new blanco single basin silgranite sink (i will never have more than one basin again)
• paint paint paint
• installed new door and trim
• recessed lights and pendants (which need to be replaced because one was broken)
• in the process of crown moulding and shelves...
• will do a tile backsplash when our money tree blooms again

The house is coming together

So I threw a bridal shower for a friend of mine yesterday. 2 of the girls said that my house looked like a model home (although i don't believe they were including the kitchen in that statement). yes i cleaned for 3 days and Matt helped for 2 of those days, but it is really coming together. Our dining room is now a formalish seating area and our dining area is by our fireplace. it looks really good. Matt and I have decided to bite the bullet and remodel the kitchen. We thought about refacing the cabinets but they are so old (1977 originals) that there is a lot of wasted/unused space and the shelves and drawers really are not in good enough condition to spend money on making them look nice on the outside.

So we are going to get a combo of instock cabinets from home depot and order a couple (for the wall oven and wall cabinets since the instock ones are only 30 inches tall...rather than 36 inches) the difference in ordering the wall cabinets vs instock is around $55. It is a $150 delivery charge no matter if it is one cabinet or 50. BUT, if you order 6 or fewer cabinets, it is an additional $80. That is stupid if you ask me! I probably wouldn't even care but we only need to order 5 cabinets. POOP!

So I will HAVE to take before and after pictures and I will post them as we go. We will buy/order the cabinets this week and start demo in a week or two. I have a Pampered Chef party on Friday so I do need my current kitchen for that. :)

Oh, one of the best parts...we get to rip out half the carpet and stain the concrete below. yippy!